The Hunt
by IMTheresa
Summary: Sam's latest vision leads the brothers to North Carolina where they pick up the trail of an old friend who needs their help. AU and original characters references to Breakdown
1. Chapter 1

**The Hunt**

**Disclaimer: **Standard stuff… I don't own 'em and I'm not making a dime off of them.

**A/N: **This is the first real multi-chapter story I've done in a while. I have quite a bit of it written and the rest of it is almost worked out in my head so there shouldn't be a lot of time between postings. Right now it's looking like at least five chapters so buckle up and enjoy the ride. As always, I appreciate your feedback and would love to know what you think as we go along. Thanks to Kelli for doing beta duty and to Karen for the feedback on what she's read so far.

oooOOOooo

Dean Winchester had probably never been in love. Who had time with the kind of life he led? He had evil spirits and demons to fight. He had credit card scams to run. And he had a younger brother to protect. Besides, moving from place to place, never being anywhere long enough to make connections didn't allow for falling in love. He wasn't even sure it was possible for him to love anyone other than his brother and his father; they were the only ones who had been his life for as long as he could remember.

He was four when his mother died, when she'd been ripped from the family by what they now knew was a demon. He'd been too young to remember much about her, but he did remember some things. He remembered that she always smelled good. Sometimes even now, he would get a whiff of the perfume she used to wear and he'd think of her. He remembered the soft sound of her voice when she would sing to him. He also remembered the feel of her arms around him when he would sit on her lap. It wasn't much, but he cherished each memory.

Dean met Kristine when he and his father were traveling to a potential job in South Carolina from Tennessee. They were on a back road, intending to spend the night in Asheville, when they came across Kristine's mother, Julia, standing next to her disabled car on the side of the road. John got it running and they followed her to the garage in the small town where she lived.

If it was possible for Dean to fall in love, it would be with Kristine Ryan. He felt an immediate connection to her, even though she wasn't his usual type. His tastes ran to tall, leggy blondes who flirted a lot and were willing to do just about anything. Kristine wasn't particularly tall and could have been classified a light brunette, but definitely was not a blonde. She spoke to him, but didn't flirt. Kristine took her education seriously and found the same enjoyment in horror movies as the proverbial chick flick. Ironically, she was probably more Sam's type than Dean's.

Her sister died the same way his mother did; pinned to the ceiling over her six month old son's crib. Instead of what happened in Dean's family, no one was able to save the baby. Kristine lost her sister and her nephew in the same night. Dean wasn't even sure how they ended up sharing their family secrets, but once they realized what they had in common, they knew there was a bond that couldn't be broken and because she had the same supernatural experience, Dean was able to talk to her in a way he'd never been able to with anyone else. Except maybe Sam. His brother had gone off to college just a few months before and Dean missed him. Sam's absence probably made him a little vulnerable and he needed something to fill the void he'd left.

John Winchester felt a connection as well; to Julia, Kristine's mother. Nothing, however, would deter him from his mission. He had spent over twenty years trying to find out what killed his wife, and he had no intention of stopping until the thing was destroyed. Not adhering to the pattern John didn't even recognize until later, the demon killed Julia a few months after their meeting. He came to realize that it was as a warning to him, but like most every other warning, he ignored it and continued on his quest.

At John's insistence, he and Dean began to work small jobs apart and Dean stayed with Kristine as often as he could. John recognized the tell-tale signs of a crush and he surprised himself by wanting Dean to enjoy it for a while. It also gave him the opportunity to follow up on some leads about Mary's death without Dean knowing what he was doing.

He was with Kristine just before leaving for New Orleans, where he was when John went missing two years ago. It was months before he told Sam about her and only did when it seemed North Carolina was the only safe place they could go. Feeling guilty over Jessica's death and teetering on the edge of emotional collapse, Sam needed help that Dean couldn't give. Kristine's brother-in-law, Patrick, lost his wife and son to the demon and could understand how Sam felt in a way that Dean couldn't.

After her mother's death, Kristine turned her family's house into a place for hunters to rest and recuperate from their injuries. She made herself a part of the underground world of hunters and would often pass along information from one to the next and could recommend other "safe" places for them to stay. She was also a trained therapist and was able to provide counseling when necessary.

Patrick and Kristine had been able to help Sam and although the brothers kept in touch, they hadn't seen them for months. After learning the secret that Sam may become evil and John's subsequent death,, Dean wanted to hide from the world to keep his brother safe. He considered going to North Carolina, but the pain he felt over losing his father and being saddled with another responsibility he didn't want caused him to shut down and kept him from his friends. Besides, Kristine and Patrick were practically the only allies the brothers had left and Dean didn't want to endanger them by being with them.

Sam Winchester was alone in the motel room he and Dean had rented earlier in the day when the stabbing pain of a headache hit him. It was the telltale sign of a vision and a moment later, images began to flash in his head. Visions like this were always somehow connected to the yellow-eyed demon that his family had been hunting for over twenty years; and with each vision, the headaches were getting worse.

He rolled from the bed onto the floor, holding his head as a moan escaped his lips. His long body was curled practically into the fetal position when Dean walked in a few minutes later carrying a pizza box. He tossed it onto the bed and rushed to his brother's side, helping him into a sitting position.

"Sammy?" he called softly, knowing his brother would be in pain. "You with me?"

As he often did when a vision struck and Dean was there, Sam grabbed his brother's shirt.

"Talk to me." Dean said, holding his brother's arms.

"We have to go to Asheville."

"Asheville?" he repeated, his mouth suddenly dry.

Sam nodded, looking at his brother sympathetically. "It's Kristine."

They were on the road ten minutes later, their gear quickly packed and tossed into the trunk of the Impala. Dean wasn't sure he was calm enough to drive, but the visions had after-effects. Sam would have a headache and be nauseous for at least a couple of hours and the headlights of oncoming vehicles would only make it worse.

"Tell me again what you saw." Dean said after several miles of silence.

Sam glanced at him. "Dean –"

"I have to know what we're up against." he said, his jaw clenched.

Sam sighed. He'd already told Dean everything he remembered twice. "I didn't see much. Just – just fire and Kristine."

"Was she --?" Dean wanted to ask if she had been on the ceiling; like his mother and Jessica.

"She was running. The fire was in the cottage."

Kristine lived in what used to be the gardener's cottage on the edge of her family's twelve acres of property. The cottage had been used for storage for as long as she could remember, but after her mother's death, she cleaned it out and remodeled it. She had no interest in living in the house where her mother died.

"Try her again." Dean said.

Sam pushed the redial button on his cell phone and after three rings, got Kristine's voice mail again. He called Patrick's phone with the same result. The Winchesters' network of contacts had been decimated due to the yellow-eyed demon and its minions; Sam could think of no one to call that knew Kristine.

"What about Ellen?"

Dean glanced at him. "Ellen doesn't know Kristine."

"No, but Ellen knows hunters. Maybe she can put out feelers for information."

"Call her."

The brothers found Ellen, an old friend of their father's, after his death. As seemed to be the case with most of his old friends, there had been a falling out and neither of them remembered John ever even mentioning her to them. She ran a bar that was frequented by hunters and, like Kristine, she was often the repository of information and messages.

Dean heard Sam's voice start to strain while he spoke with Ellen. He glanced at his brother and saw him rubbing his head. Sam ended the conversation quickly and dropped the phone.

"Sam?"

"Keep driving." he said as he leaned forward.

"Sammy –" Dean quickly pulled to the side of the road as another wave of pain overtook his brother. Sam felt the car stop moving and, without even thinking about it, opened the door and fell onto the ground.

The car was between Sam and the road, and luckily there wasn't much traffic. Sam was on his hands and knees when Dean reached his side, his body being punished with dry heaves. The visions had been increasingly hard on Sam, but Dean had never seen this reaction. What seemed like hours later, but was really only a few moments, Sam collapsed and rolled onto his back. Dean laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Sam?"

"We have to go." Sam choked out, trying to sit up.

"Hold on." Dean held him down. "We'll go, but not until you're better. Can you tell me what you saw?"

"It was Patrick." Sam managed.

"What?"

Sam rubbed his head. "Patrick was after Kristine; he was trying to hurt her."

"That's impossible." Dean paused. "Unless he was possessed."

Sam managed to sit up. "We have to go."

Dean helped his brother stand and get into the car. Before closing the door, he squatted and looked at Sam. "You okay?"

"I'm okay enough. What about you?"

Dean looked surprised. "Me?"

Sam looked at him and Dean sighed. "Yeah. I don't much like this vision of yours, but I'll get us to North Carolina in one piece."

oooOOOooo

The brothers were on the road for almost four hours when Sam's cell phone rang. He had recovered from the vision and was able to grab the phone quickly.

"Hello?"

"Sam, it's Ellen."

He glanced at Dean. "Hey, Ellen."

"I'm sorry it took me so long, but I do have word from North Carolina."

"What is it?"

"Well, it came from the friend of a friend of a friend, but the house is still standing and the cottage is fine. There's no one around, though."

"At either place?"

"No. It looks like the house was abandoned pretty quickly; plates with food were still on the table. Pots and pans on the stove; that kind of thing. There are no vehicles parked outside the house or the cottage."

Sam tried to imagine something that would make hunters abandon a safe house. "Anything else? What about her brother-in-law's place?"

"No one there. Nothing out of place. "I've got people poking around, but considering what time it is –"

"Yeah." he sighed.

"I'll let you know if I hear anything else. How far out are you?"

"Maybe two hours."

"Be careful. Keep in touch."

"We will. Thanks, Ellen."

Sam slipped the phone back into his pocket and told Dean what Ellen had said.

"What makes hunters run?" Dean wondered, afraid of the answer.

"Sometimes the best thing to do is retreat." Sam said. "Reevaluate the situation and come up with a new plan."

"Thank you, John Winchester." Dean said quietly.

Sam smiled to himself and they slipped into silence.

oooOOOooo

Kristine actually lived in a small town about thirty miles outside of Asheville and those were the hardest miles of the trip to drive. There had been no more news and Kristine hadn't responded to any of Sam's messages. Dean was worried; she knew multiple ways of getting in touch with them and it made him very nervous that she hadn't used any of them. It didn't make him feel any better when Sam said the best thing being to retreat sometimes. What were they retreating _from_? In the past, Sam's visions were always connected to the yellow-eyed demon and the thought that it was after Kristine scared Dean.

Kristine wasn't a hunter, but her brother-in-law, Patrick, had gone down that road for a while after his wife's death. He started out very much like John Winchester; he found someone who introduced him to the reality of the paranormal and he gradually learned what he needed to know. His life as a hunter ended abruptly, though, when he tried to rescue Kristine's mother from the demon. An injury sentenced him to life in a wheelchair.

Even though she was not a hunter, Kristine's skills and instincts were as good as any of them. John made sure she understood what she was up against and taught her what he could while he was with her. Patrick also helped and, of course, Dean wanted her to know as much as possible. If she had gone into hiding, there had to be a good reason.

"Are we going to the cottage?" Sam asked as Dean turned onto the highway that would lead them away from Asheville.

"Yeah."

"You want to meet up with the people Ellen sent?"

"I want to see the cottage and the house for myself."

Sam nodded. He had already decided he would follow Dean's lead unless his brother started making mistakes. They had never really talked about Dean's feelings for Kristine, but Sam knew Dean thought of her as special. Sam saw that Dean was different when Kristine was around; he was more calm, almost relaxed. If Sam had to put a word to it, he would say Dean was content and that wasn't something that happened very often.

Besides Dean's feelings, Sam had reason to like Kristine. She and Patrick helped him at a time when almost no one else could have. He was spiraling out of control and headed for a dark place he knew he couldn't have escaped from alone. His father's disappearance, the feelings of guilt over Jessica's death and being pulled back into a lifestyle he had tried to escape were too much for him. He couldn't admit his premonitions to Dean yet and the secrecy added to him being overwhelmed. It was also Kristine who managed to bring John out of hiding long enough to help his son.

Sam wanted her to be okay, but not just because of Dean's feelings for her. Besides being thankful for her help, he couldn't let anyone else die the way his mother and his girlfriend did.

Dean didn't even try to hide their approach. He parked right in front of the cottage and grabbed a weapon from the trunk before going inside. He appreciated Ellen sending people to check things out, but he knew things to look for that a stranger wouldn't.

Sam watched as his brother walked straight to the stereo in the living room. He opened the CD player, but it was empty. All of the CDs were arranged on the shelves and nothing seemed out of place, but Dean scanned the collection attentively.

"Dean?" Sam prompted.

"It's not here." Dean whispered.

"What isn't here?"

"Metallica's _Ride the Lightning._ That means she left on her own."

"What? Maybe it's in her car, or –"

Dean turned to look at him. "She doesn't listen to Metallica."

Sam nodded. He and Dean had their share of code words and other tricks to communicate if they became separated so it only made sense that Dean would have made sure Kristine had the same tools. Not to mention that some of her training came from the same place theirs had; John Winchester.

"Any idea to tell where she was headed?" Sam asked.

Dean wandered around the room, looking at everything carefully. "Why don't you check out the next room? Look for the same kinds of things we'd leave."

Sam nodded.

Dean finished the living room and walked upstairs. Everything seemed to be as it should and Kristine's suitcase was in her closet. He found Sam in the kitchen.

"I didn't find anything." he said. "You?"

"No."

"You're sure about that album?"

Dean nodded.

Sam leaned back against the counter. "There are protection symbols everywhere."

"Yeah." Dean said quietly. "But we put some of them there ourselves."

"Looks like she was scared of something." Sam insisted. "Some are fresh."

"Why wouldn't she call if there was something going on?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know."

Dean stood next to him and rubbed his face.

"Now what?" Sam asked.

"Let's go to the house. Then Patrick's."

oooOOOooo

It was nearly dawn when they finished searching the other houses, without finding anything else helpful. Sam talked to Ellen and found out her contacts had checked into a small motel in the next town, but unless the brothers wanted their help, they weren't planning to stay. Sam knew that Dean didn't come by trust easily and wouldn't accept assistance from people he didn't know; especially when it came to helping someone close to him. He conferred with his brother anyway and got the answer he had expected.

They drove to the only lodging in town; a bed and breakfast situated next to a small creek. It wasn't the kind of place they would usually stay, but it was one of the properties left to Kristine in her mother's will and they knew the manager. Dean wasn't looking for a room; the manager didn't know everything about Kristine's connection to the paranormal, but she knew enough to potentially be helpful.

They could see a light on in the kitchen when Dean parked in the small lot off the alley. He knocked on the back door, Sam standing behind him.

"Dean?" Alicia Raymond opened the door after peeking out of the curtain. "Sam! Come in!"

Alicia was almost sixty years old and had spent nearly her entire life working at the inn. She started out as a maid when her mother was the manager and learned every aspect of the business.

"Sit down, I'll get you some coffee. I'm glad you're here."

The brothers exchanged a look.

"Why is that?" Sam asked.

Alicia set fresh brewed coffee in front of them as they sat at the small corner table. A woman they didn't recognize walked into the kitchen before Alicia could answer the question.

"This is Tammy, our new cook. She's quite good." Alicia smiled. "Tammy, this is Sam and Dean. They're friends of the Ryan family."

A moment of pleasantries followed the introductions and Alicia suggested they move into the living room for more privacy.

"Kristine left an envelope for you. She said you might be by."

Dean's heart quickened. "When was this?"

"Just over a week ago."

"A week?" Dean repeated.

"Did she say where she was going?" Sam asked.

"She said she had a conference in Atlanta and would be gone for a couple of weeks. I'll go get the envelope from my room."

"That doesn't seem likely." Sam whispered to his brother. "A conference?"

"None of this makes sense. I hope she put something in that envelope that will help." Dean said and took a long sip of the coffee.

"Have you seen Patrick lately?" Sam asked innocently when Alicia walked back into the room a few minutes later.

"I haven't." she said, handing the envelope to Dean. "But that isn't all that unusual. It's odd that Kristine wouldn't leave this with him, though."

Dean opened the standard, business-sized envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. A key fell out when he unfolded it and Sam reached for it.

"So how have things been going out at the house?" Sam asked when Dean started to read. Most of the townspeople knew vaguely that Kristine had turned her family's estate into some type of treatment center, but Kristine never spoke much about it. She was from a well-respected family and no one thought to press the issue. Alicia knew more than most, but still not the entire story.

"Okay, I guess. Kristine told me she'd stopped accepting new residents for a while. The last are supposed to be leaving in a day or so and I'm supposed to get a cleaning crew in there."

"A day or two?" Sam repeated.

Alicia nodded. "That's what Kristine said before she left."

Sam glanced at his brother as Dean stood up. "Thanks, Alicia."

"Is everything all right?"

Dean faked a smile. "Sure. We'll probably be in town for a couple of days, though."

"Do you need a room?"

"No, thanks."

Sam followed his brother to the car.

"Hey –" he reached for Dean's arm. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you on the way."

"The way to where?"

"Kristine's."

"What?"

"Just get in the car, Sammy."

_TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

**The Hunt**

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1

A/N: This would have been up yesterday, but the site wasn't cooperating.

oooOOOooo

Dean handed Sam the piece of paper Kristine left. "Read it."

_Hey guys, I hope you manage to find out there's a problem here. I'll call you as soon as I can, but in the meantime, I'm leaving this key for you. Dean knows what it's for. _

"What is they key for?"

"Her safe deposit box at the bank on Main Street."

"The bank probably doesn't open for at least a couple of hours." Sam said.

"I know. But that gives us a little time to sleep."

"At Kristine's?"

Dean nodded. Sam said nothing.

oooOOOooo

Sam wasn't particularly comfortable with the idea of sleeping in Kristine's house. Not because of what may have happened, but because she wasn't there. He salted the doors and windows before settling in the guest room as added protection. He suspected Dean needed to feel close to her, but he would never say that to Sam. He might not even recognize his reasons for choosing to stay at her house. After a few minutes his discomfort was beaten by his exhaustion, and Sam fell asleep.

Dean sat on the edge of Kristine's bed and leaned forward with his hands on his knees. He rubbed his face and yawned, then looked around the room. He was worried about Kristine, but felt oddly comforted surrounded by her things. Sleep came easily, but didn't last long.

He was in the kitchen when he heard Sam cry out. Dean took the stairs two at a time, calling his brother's name. Sam was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands when Dean reached him.

"Sam?"

The younger man looked up.

"What happened?"

"Vision." Sam closed his eyes against the little bit of light coming from the window. Dean reached over to close the curtains more securely. Sam nodded his thanks.

Dean let him take a few moments to gather himself. "Sam –"

"I still saw Kristine running from a fire in this house. Patrick was there, but he wasn't in his wheelchair."

"That has to mean Kristine comes back here." Dean said thoughtfully. He looked at his watch. "The bank should be open. I've already taken a shower; I'll head over there myself. Why don't you try to get some more sleep?"

"I'm okay." he tried to stand, but fell back onto the bed.

"Yeah, you look okay. Just stay here; I won't be gone long."

Reluctantly, Sam nodded.

When Dean got to the bank, he asked for Mr. Harvey, as Kristine had directed him to do when she set the scheme up, never thinking they'd need to put it in motion. He was the branch manager and had been instructed by Kristine to give the Dean access to her safe deposit box should he come to the bank with her key. Dean knew the man was probably breaking any number of rules, but the Ryan family was well connected and owned most of the town. It just happened that Kristine was the only remaining Ryan, unless Patrick counted and right now, Dean didn't think he did.

"I'll give you some privacy." Mr. Harvey said as he set the safe deposit box on the counter.

Dean waited until he was alone then opened the box. He found another envelope that contained another single sheet of paper. There was a set of numbers written on it that he recognized as coordinates. It was a trick his father had used more than once and Dean felt a momentary pang of grief.

oooOOOooo

"Sammy?" Dean called as he walked into Kristine's house. "Sam, you awake?"

"In here." Sam called as he walked out of the kitchen. He looked a little better than when Dean left him earlier. "What did you find?"

"She left coordinates."

"Dad really did train her, didn't he?" Sam said wryly.

"Where's the laptop?"

"Upstairs. I'll get it."

Dean paced while Sam booted up the computer and tracked down the coordinates.

"This doesn't make sense."

"What?" Dean peered over his shoulder.

"The coordinates point to here."

"She wants us to stay. She's planning on coming back." Dean went back to pacing.

Sam watched him. "I don't get it. She shut down the safe house and sent all the hunters away because she knew something was going to happen? And she just assumed we'd get wind of it?"

"Alicia said she was supposed to get a cleaning crew into the house when they were gone; in a day or two. A day or two? It looks like they headed out all of a sudden and not that long ago. So Kristine knew something was on its way, but she had the timing wrong?"

"But why send the very people who can help her away?"

"The hunters who come here need of rest and sometimes medical care. Maybe she didn't want to put them in danger."

"And the part about her just assuming we'd find out?"

Dean shrugged, still pacing. "She probably wasn't really counting on that."

"So what do we do? Just sit around here and wait? For how long?"

"I don't know. She told Alicia she'd be gone for two weeks."

"Why didn't she just tell us to stay here in the message she left with Alicia?"

Dean looked thoughtful. "That's a good point. Maybe she was afraid Patrick would get hold of it?"

"So she already doesn't trust Patrick? Wouldn't he know she has a safe deposit at her bank?"

"It's not her bank."

"What?"

"Most of the Ryan money is at the bank on Holden Avenue. I convinced her that she needed to have some things in place that not even Patrick knew about."

"All this covert stuff is giving me a headache." Sam said, rubbing his forehead.

"That's probably still vision hangover. You doin' okay?"

"Yeah. Maybe I just need to eat."

"Come on, let's go to the diner."

oooOOOooo

Even Dean couldn't survive on only a couple hours of sleep. After eating and talking to Ellen again, the brothers went back to Kristine's. Sam didn't say anything, but Dean knew he still wasn't feeling well and he was mildly worried. The visions always had residual effects, but they didn't usually last this long. It was unusual for the visions not to stop once the brothers were in the location Sam saw in them.

Sam stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching Dean. He was at the table, a cup of coffee in front of him, touching one of the string bracelets he wore on his wrist. The first was to symbolize his brother; it was something Sam gave him before leaving for college and matched the one he wore on his own wrist. Dean never said so, but Sam knew the second one was for Kristine.

"Stop spying on me." Dean said, with only a hint of frustration in his voice.

"I'm not spying." Sam insisted as he walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. "I'm observing."

"Yeah? And what do you observe?"

"You're worried."

"Of course I am."

"Is there anyone she would have contacted?"

Dean shrugged. "I've been trying to think of someone. I just don't know."

Sam sat down across from him. "We've got to get smarter about this. We can't just sit around for a week in case she comes back. We need to figure this out and start being proactive."

"Thanks for that newsflash." Dean sighed and his tone softened. "Her contacts were our contacts and the yellow-eyed demon pretty much took care of all of them. She has random hunters in and out of the house, but as far as I know, there was no one in particular she trusted. This isn't like the Roadhouse; they don't come here just to chill and have a few drinks. They come here because they're sick and at the end of their rope."

Sam nodded, remembering that was how he felt the first came here. A moment later he stood up. "Kristine is probably too smart to use her real credit cards, but I'll hack into some places and see if I can find anything."

"Good idea."

They exchanged a look when the doorbell rang.

"It's probably the sheriff wondering why we're squatting in Kristine's house." Sam muttered as they walked to the front door.

Dean looked through the peephole as Sam stood off to his side with a gun at the ready.

"It's not the sheriff. It's Kristine's lawyer."

Sam raised his eyebrows as Dean opened the door.

"I would have thought you'd contact me as soon as you hit town." the man said, pushing his way inside. Sam did his best to hide the weapon.

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" Dean asked.

He sat down on the couch. "Because I just might have information about your girlfriend."

Dean ignored the _girlfriend_ reference. "You know where Kristine is?"

Jeremy Robbins was a partner in the law firm his grandfather founded almost sixty years ago. He had been assigned to the Ryan account when his father cut his own case load ten years before. Setting his briefcase on the coffee table, he opened it and pulled out a sealed manila envelope.

"No, I don't." Jeremy looked at the brothers and held up the envelope. "But I know she left town suddenly and right before she did, she left this with me. She told me if she didn't get in touch in a week I was supposed to find you and make sure you got this. It was a week yesterday and I happened to hear you boys were here."

Dean glanced at his brother and reached for the envelope. It contained only a cell phone. Dean looked at the lawyer.

"She said you'd know what to do with it and didn't tell me anything else." Jeremy sounded worried. "I don't know what, exactly, she's involved with but I know it started when her sister died. Julia set up some odd things over the years and Kristine has followed in her mother's footsteps. Everything that goes through my office is legitimate, but I tend to only handle business matters for her. _Other _matters are handled by someone else."

The brothers exchanged another look and Jeremy stood up.

"Do you know where Patrick is? Sam asked quickly.

"No, I haven't seen him for quite a while. Now I have a meeting to get to. If there's something else I can do, you have my number."

After Jeremy was gone, Dean flipped open the phone. "She programmed two numbers in."

"No names?"

Dean shook his head.

"If I had done that, the first number would be one I would have access to."

Dean sat down on the couch, staring at the phone as if mesmerized.

"You want me to call?" Sam offered.

Dean shook his head again and Sam waited. A moment later he sat on the couch next to his brother. Dean hesitated, but forced himself to make the call.

oooOOOooo

The phone rang so many times Dean was afraid it wasn't going to be answered and they would be at another dead end. He was barely aware of his brother sitting next to him and everything seemed to disappear around him the longer he listened to the ringing. Finally it transferred to voice mail and a robotic voice instructed Dean to leave a message. He kept it simple.

"It's me. Give me a call."

The brothers didn't move. Dean wasn't sure his legs would support him if he tried to stand and Sam just wanted to be close to him to offer whatever comfort he could. Dean didn't generally respond to a hand on his shoulder or other physical displays of support, but always appreciated having his brother close by when he was scared or worried.

What seemed like hours later, the cell phone Kristine left for them began to ring. It was still in Dean's hand and he looked at the caller ID. There was no information.

"Hello?" he answered hesitantly.

"Dean."

He immediately recognized Kristine's voice and almost collapsed with relief.

"Where are you? Are you all right?"

She struggled to remain calm. "It's Patrick; he –"

"We know all about that." he said quickly. "Are you safe?"

"For now. How –"

"It's not important how we found out right now. Just tell me where you are."

"I saw him last night. I don't think he saw me, but he may not have to see me to know where I am." Kristine said. "Dean, he – he killed someone who helped me. I –"

Dean understood her panic, but he couldn't help her if he didn't know where to find her.

"Kristine." he said more harshly than he wished was necessary, but then his tone softened. "Tell me where to find you and I'll get there as soon as I can."

She took a deep, shaking breath and told Dean where she was hiding; it was a small town about eight hours away and she wasn't even settled in yet.

"We're leaving right now." Dean said, casting Sam a look. The other Winchester rushed upstairs for their bags. "It's going to take a few hours, but we'll be there. If you have to leave, call me. Don't forget to salt the doors and windows."

"Okay."

Dean heard the fear in her voice. It was one thing to know that the monsters existed; it was something else entirely to have one after you.

oooOOOooo

"You okay?" Sam asked after they'd been on the road for a while. He couldn't help but notice the tension in Dean's posture.

"I'm fine." he glanced at his brother. "So once we get there –"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that. Do we bring Kristine back home?"

"So your vision can come true?" Dean asked. "I don't think so. We'll just have to take care of Patrick."

"And by _take care of_ you mean --?"

"Whatever I have to do."

Sam looked at him. "What does that mean?"

"Just what it sounds like."

"You'll kill Patrick? With what? He's possessed, Dean."

Dean clenched his jaw.

"Let's come up with a better plan."

"We try to exorcise him first, but if that doesn't work –" Dean stared out of the windshield.

Dean protected his own like nothing else Sam had ever seen and even on his best days, he could be scary. Ever since their father died, Dean had become increasingly erratic and seemed to take a perverse joy in each kill. Sam thought he understood once Dean shared John's secret with him. On top of losing a father he admired, he had to come to terms with his brother's potential for becoming evil. It was a something John should have either told them much earlier, or not at all. It certainly shouldn't have been shared with Dean just before the man sacrificed himself to the demon they'd tried to find for over twenty years.

That was something else Dean had to cope with; somehow John's death resulted in his own life. They still hadn't completely figured out the sequence of events, but the only weapon they knew of that could kill the yellow-eyed demon was gone and so was John. It was obvious that John's death was not natural.

Sam knew that Dean's shoulders were broad, but even his brother couldn't carry everything that he was being asked to. And on top of dealing with everything from just the last few months, he was now faced with potentially having to kill someone he liked in order to save someone he might be in love with. Sam didn't know how much more Dean could take.

oooOOOooo

It was dark when the Impala passed the town limits sign and Dean's nerves were frayed. He and Kristine agreed not to risk any more phone calls unless there was an emergency and he hated not knowing what was going on. Following the directions she'd given him earlier, Dean drove to the motel and parked near her room. Sam quickly got weapons from the trunk while Dean surveyed the area.

The motel appeared not to have been updated within the last twenty years and was not in the best part of the small town. He would have worried for her safety here even without a demon on her trail. Dean scanned the windows of the thirty or so rooms in the long building and only one was dark.

"Sam."

His brother joined him and followed his gaze.

"Her room is the only one without a light on." Dean said.

"Do you want to call her or do we just go in?"

Dean moved forward and Sam quickly fell in step beside him. He stood on one side of the door with Dean on the other, each holding their weapon at the ready. After exchanging a look and nodding their agreement, Dean knocked on the door. They exchanged another look when there was no answer and no sign of movement inside. Sam nodded and Dean kicked the door, quickly dislodging the cheap lock. The door opened and slammed against the wall.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled. He wasn't sure which was worse; Kristine not being in the room or what he saw in front of him.

She was against the far wall, suspended from the ceiling on makeshift hooks. Even in the brief moment he took to survey the situation, Dean could see that her wrists were already bruised and bleeding. Her head was hanging down and he saw blood on the wall behind her.

"Help me get her down!" Dean yelled to Sam as he rushed forward.

Even as tall as Sam was, he had to stand on a chair to reach Kristine's bonds comfortably. While Dean supported her weight, Sam cut the ropes that held her and helped lower her into his brother's arms. They sank to the ground and Sam rushed into the bathroom for water and towels.

"Kristine?" Dean called softly, touching her cheek. He laid her flat on the floor as Sam joined them. Sam gently cleaned her wounds so he could better assess her injuries. He glanced at his brother, who seemed to be in shock.

"Dean?"

There was no response.

"Come on, man. I need your help here."

Dean didn't respond.

"Why don't you look around?" Sam suggested, noticing that Dean still hadn't taken his eyes off Kristine. "I got this."

Still, he didn't move.

Sam hated pulling this card, but in his best John Winchester voice he said, "Dean! Take a look around; survey the situation."

Never able to disobey an order, Dean cleared his mind and made his way to his feet to do as he was told. Sam shook his head sadly and quickly turned his attention back to Kristine. She opened her eyes a moment later and tried to pull away from Sam.

"It's okay, Kristine." he said gently. "It's Sam Winchester. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Sam?" she whispered.

"Hey." he smiled at her. "Just lie still and I'll take care of you."

"Dean?" she asked a few minutes later.

"Right here." he said, kneeling next to her. The room was as secure as it was going to get for now. "Did Patrick do this?"

"It's not him." she managed to say; her mouth bruised and swollen. "He's possessed."

"We're gonna get you out of here." Dean said, taking her hand. "Somewhere safe. Do you know where Patrick went?"

She shook her head, a slight moan escaping her lips.

He looked at Sam. "Can we move her?"

"I don't think there's anything broken."

"Let's get out of here, then. We'll work on a plan once I know she's okay."

Sam only nodded.

Dean saw a duffle bag in the corner and nodded toward it. "Can you grab that?"

"Yeah." Sam said, then helped Dean get Kristine up. He picked up the duffle bag and glanced around the room, looking for anything else that might be important, while Dean carried Kristine to the car. He settled her in the back seat as Sam put the bag in the trunk. After handing Dean a blanket, Sam got behind the wheel. Dean climbed into the back with Kristine, laid the blanket across her and cradled her head on his lap.

Sam pulled onto the highway continuing away from Ashville. He kept one eye on the road and one eye on the rearview mirror. He wanted to stop in the next town, but knew it was smarter to keep going. At a crossroads, he chose a different direction and drove until he found a motel with its vacancy sign flashing.

Dean waited in the car with Kristine as Sam went inside to rent a room. She had fallen back to sleep and Dean wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He had been mentally kicking himself for freezing up in the motel room earlier and was thankful Sam had taken control of the situation. He and Sam had been in some tough situations before and there was always a moment of panic when he'd see his younger brother hurt and bleeding, but he'd never completely lost it the way he did with Kristine. He knew he couldn't ever let that happen again.

oooOOOooo

"Hey."

Dean looked away from the window when Kristine came from the bathroom. They'd been in the room for almost two hours and the brothers had secured it as much as possible before Sam went out to find them food.

"Hey." Dean said softly.

She managed a hot bath and now made her way slowly to the nearest chair. Dean knew better than to rush to her side, but it was hard for him to watch her struggle. They had her clothes with them, but slipping into a t-shirt would have been too difficult so she was wearing one of Dean's button-up shirts.

She ran her fingers through her wet hair. "Where's Sam?"

"He went out to find food a couple minutes ago. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better." she said. "Everything hurts."

Dean saw how she held one arm close to her chest.

"I'll take a look in the first aid kit and see if there's something stronger than the ibuprofen you had earlier."

"No." she said quickly. He looked at her surprised. "I don't want to end up passed out."

"Your mouth is still swollen." he observed. "Sam got ice before he left. You should probably be lying down."

"Later."

Dean looked at her, a little concerned. He gave her the ice bag and got another dose of ibuprofen and a bottle of water.

"Looks like your brother got us pretty well set up." Kristine commented as she placed the ice gingerly on her face. "You okay?"

"Me?" he avoided her gaze and set about making coffee.

"Yeah. You."

"Sure."

"Liar."

Dean smiled to himself. Kristine was a lot like Sam; she didn't always let him hide behind his bravado. He turned around to face her.

"So you want to tell me what happened?"

"I really only want to tell the story once so how about we wait for Sam?"

"Okay." he glanced around the room.

"Dean?" she called softly. "Would it be too difficult for you to sit with me?"

He smiled nervously, but took the chair across from her.

"How are you?" she asked again.

Dean's eyes flicked away, he looked at everything in the room but her. She waited patiently.

"I don't want to talk about how I am." he said nervously. "I'm barely holding it together most days and right now –"

"Right now what?"

He looked at her with tears in his eyes. "I just want to take you and Sam – run off and hide somewhere until I can figure everything out. But I can't – Sam won't do it. Whatever the hell might happen to him – he wants to face it head on and do all the good he can along the way. He's got it in his head that if he saves as many people as possible, that will change his destiny."

"And you?"

"Destiny." Dean scoffed. "I know my brother. There's nothing evil about him."

"But you're scared."

He stood up hearing the Impala's engine outside. Kristine watched as Dean immediately transformed back into the stoic hunter. He opened the door for Sam and busied himself reapplying the salt.

Sam glanced at Kristine, then looked back to his brother. He saw Dean's mask and wondered what the two had been talking about.

"There's a diner not too far from here and I took a quick look around the town." he put the bags he was carrying on the table and looked at Kristine. "I didn't know what you might feel like, so I got you a burger and some soup."

"Thanks." she said, painfully reaching for the container of soup.

"Is your arm all right?"

"Just sore."

"Let me see." he knelt down in front of her and gently extended her arm. "Dean, why didn't you reapply the bandages to her wrists?"

Dean said nothing. Sam glanced at him, but decided not to let it go and turned his attention back to Kristine. "I think there might be an infection starting. I want to apply some antiseptic and get the bandages back on."

He unwrapped a plastic spoon for her and walked across the room for the first aid kit. Dean set cups of coffee on the table and Sam held out the supplies to him. "Dean?"

"Uh – " he rubbed his hands on his jeans. "I'm gonna run down to the soda machine."

Sam and Kristine exchanged a look as Dean opened the door and carefully stepped over the salt line.

"Something happen here?" Sam asked Kristine as he knelt down in front of her again to tend to the wounds.

"It's been a long day."

Sam looked at her wondering exactly what that meant.

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Hunt**

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1

oooOOOooo

"We need to know what happened." Dean said once the empty containers were cleared. It hadn't escaped Sam's attention that Dean had been nowhere near Kristine the entire time they ate.

The swelling in Kristine's mouth had gone down and she was able to eat the soup with relative ease. Talking was still painful, but she knew it was necessary.

"How long have you known Patrick was possessed? When did it happen?" Sam asked.

"He started acting weird about three weeks ago. I don't see him every day, but we generally talk at least once. Every Wednesday we have dinner together and three weeks ago he missed it; he just didn't show up. He called a few hours later to apologize and said he'd gotten caught up with one of the guys in his disability support group. He acted weird after that, but I didn't really put it together for a few days."

"Weird how?" Sam asked.

"He seemed happier than usual. I mean, you know him, he's usually pretty happy, but there was something off about it. Then he started making inappropriate comments – he was like an obnoxious drunk, but he wasn't drinking."

"He was possessed and the demon wasn't too concerned about keeping his cover." Dean said. "What did you do when you put it together?"

"I put together that he was acting off, not that he was possessed. He has quite a few health problems stemming from the injury that put him in the wheelchair and I thought he was sick."

"Go on." Sam urged.

"I got home early from the clinic and saw him through the front window of my house. He was pacing – walking. That's when I knew he had to be possessed. I called his cell phone and pretended I didn't know; I wanted to see if I could find out what the demon wanted."

"Did you?"

"No." she glanced at Dean, then looked back to Sam. "But it knows I know about the possession; that's why I felt like I had to leave town. I set things in motion – did you go to the house? There were four hunters at the house; I told them about the possession so they could get out of town. They'd all been through one hell of a battle and none of them were in shape to fight this."

"It looks like they left in a hurry."

"What do you mean?"

Sam told her what they'd found in the kitchen of the estate house.

"That doesn't make sense. They had time to get out." she closed her eyes for a moment. "Unless the demon went to the house – I figured Patrick being possessed had to do with me; the demon wanted information. I didn't think it had anything to do with the connection to the hunters –"

Sam laid a gentle hand on her arm. "It looks like they got out. We didn't find them. And, for what it's worth, I think you were right. The demon probably wanted to get to us through you."

She looked at him. "That's what I thought, too. That's why I didn't contact you directly. How did you find the trail?"

"I had a vision." Sam said.

"What did you see?"

He glanced away.

"Tell me, Sam. I need to know."

"Patrick chasing you through your house; fire –"

"Fire?"

"He was chasing you through the house; you weren't on a ceiling."

Dean stood up and began to pace.

"What happened in the motel room?" Sam asked. He felt Kristine stiffen and looked at her sympathetically, then glanced at Dean. He had no idea what was going on in his brother's head and he didn't understand the relationship between the two of them; but he did know that Kristine wasn't a hunter. She had a lot of the same knowledge and she'd lost a lot to the demon, but none of that prepared her for being a target. She needed someone to lean on, and of the two of them, Sam thought that should be Dean.

"I was putting the salt down. I started at the door, but Patrick –" she winced when she said his name. "_It_ came through the window. Just dove through. I didn't have time to react. It – it hit me a few times and I was hanging from those hooks almost before I even realized what was going on."

Sam squeezed her hand gently. "I'm sorry you were brought in to this."

She smiled at him even though she had tears in her eyes. "Sam, I've been in this since that thing killed my sister. None of this is your fault."

He glanced away for a moment. "Do you know what the demon wanted? The one possessing Patrick? Did it say anything to you?"

"It said a lot, but most of it was just to eat at me. But I do know," she looked at Dean briefly. He was still pacing uncomfortably. "I do know that it didn't want me and wasn't using me to get to you, Sam."

"Then what?"

"To get to me." Dean said quietly. "The yellow-eyed demon knows it will be easier to get what it wants from you if I'm not around, so the bastard sent one of its children after Kristine as a way to keep me off balance."

Sam looked from his brother back to Kristine. She nodded. "I don't know how I know that, but I know it."

"Then we have to split up."

"What? No way." Dean said. "We're in this together."

"I can't keep letting it try to hurt you, Dean."

"We're not splitting up." Dean said firmly. "That's all there is to it."

Sam heard the strength in his brother's tone, but saw the fear in his eyes and the pallor of his skin. He knew what John told Dean; that he had to look out for Sam and if he couldn't protect him, Dean might have to kill him. They had no information other than that and with John's death, none would be forthcoming any time soon. Another hunter, Gordon, had an informant at the Harvelle Roadhouse and since they had no idea who they could trust, both had agreed not to share the secret with anyone there. They were on their own.

"We have to find Patrick and get the demon out of him." Dean said after a moment.

"How do we find it?" Kristine asked.

"_We_ don't. We're going to get you somewhere safe and take care of this."

Kristine knew better than to argue, but she had no intention of backing out gracefully. "So how do _you_ find the demon?"

"I'm not sure." Dean ran a hand over his face. "But I'd be willing to guess we didn't outrun it. It probably has ways to find us."

"So there _is_ nowhere safe to take me."

"Bobby." Sam said. "We'll take you to Bobby."

Kristine had never met Bobby Singer, but knew of him through the brothers. He was one of John's contacts; someone else he'd had a falling out with, but who was immediately available when his sons needed help. He showed them how to make the Devil's Trap they'd used to capture and exorcise Meg and he helped Dean with the Impala after the possessed truck driver all but totaled it.

"Okay." Dean nodded. "You two get some sleep. I'll take the first watch."

Kristine didn't understand the look that passed between the brothers, but she knew enough not to get between them.

oooOOOooo

Dean had moved a chair near the window and sat facing outward with a gun nearby. He tried not to think about his feelings, instead concentrating on what had to be done. He knew he'd been somewhat cold to Kristine since Sam got back earlier, but he had to do something to survive until they'd managed to get her somewhere safe. He'd gotten dangerously close to not holding it together and that was something he could not allow.

But his resolve nearly shattered when he heard Kristine cry out in her sleep and it was only because Sam was closer that he got to her first. Sam sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms; she fought for a moment until hearing his voice as he tried to convince her she'd been dreaming. She sobbed into his shoulder and held fast to his shirt.

Dean watched, afraid to move closer than the foot of the bed. Sam looked at him curiously, but kept most of his attention on Kristine. He realized this situation must be hard on his brother, but he hated to see Dean shutting down again like he did right after John died.

Sam helped Kristine get out of bed after she'd calmed down and watched as she walked stiffly to the bathroom. She glanced at Dean as she moved past him, but said nothing.

"Dean."

"Sam, don't."

"What's going on, man?"

Dean rubbed his face. "It's just –"

"What?"

"It's hard, okay?"

Sam looked at him quietly for a moment. Even after everything he'd seen his brother go through in the last few months, Sam still tended to think of him as invincible and able to handle anything. "Yeah. Look, I'm up so why don't you try to get some sleep?"

Dean hesitated and then nodded. "Thanks."

"And maybe try saying something nice to Kristine before you go to sleep."

Dean sighed. "Yeah."

Sam traded places with Kristine when she opened the bathroom door. Dean saw how red and puffy her eyes were and how difficult it still was for her to walk. He stood up and got another dose of ibuprofen and a bottle of water.

"You okay?" he asked handing her the pills as he sat down next to her.

She looked at him a little surprised. "Yeah. Thanks."

Dean glanced at the bathroom door. "Kristine, I'm sorry. For a lot of things."

She took the water from him and nodded. "I understand."

"God, I hope you do." he whispered and took her empty hand to examine the wound. "It might be a good idea to change the bandage again; get some fresh antiseptic on there."

She said nothing as he reached for her other hand and examined the wrist. A moment later he got the first aid kit from the table.

"You were walking pretty stiff."

"My back is bothering me a little."

"You'd tell me if it was something worse?"

She nodded. "I got slammed into the wall a couple of times."

He looked at her. "I'm sorry."

"You won't be able to save Patrick. If you exorcise the demon out of him, he'll die. That thing has been inside him, making him walk – his body can't withstand that. And once Patrick is gone, the demon will have taken the last of my family. You'd think it would be happy having killed three of them, but it wants them all I guess."

"You don't know that he'll die." Dean said as he finished bandaging the first wrist and moved on to the second. She looked at Dean sadly.

"We'll do everything we can." he promised quietly.

"Don't let him suffer." she whispered as tears threatened to fall.

Dean put his arm around her and she leaned against him.

oooOOOooo

They headed out the next day, stopping only briefly until the evening when the snack food Sam bought wore off. Except for the music coming from the Impala's radio, the ride had been quiet and that continued into the diner. They placed their orders and then slipped back into silence.

Sam was facing the door and saw Patrick as soon as he opened the door.

"What?" Dean asked, seeing the expression on his brother's face. He turned to look over his shoulder and put his hand on Kristine's arm. She didn't see Patrick until he slipped into the booth next to Sam.

"Hi, kids." Patrick grinned. "How is everyone? Kristine, bruises become you."

She glared at him.

"What do you want?" Dean demanded, his voice low.

"Oh come on!" he smiled. "We're all friends here –"

"No one here is your friend." Kristine hissed.

The demon pulled Patrick's wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a small picture of him and Kristine taken at a concert last summer. "This makes it look like we're friends."

She grabbed the picture from his hand. "You're not Patrick. Why don't you just let him go?"

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked again.

"Wow." Patrick sat back. "You guys really are no fun."

"I'm warning you –"

Patrick looked at Dean, amused. "Yeah, right. I could kill the three of you before anyone could make a move, so don't _warn_ me. You boys think you know a lot of things, but what you don't know could fill a library. Your daddy didn't share a lot of information with you, did he?"

"Don't you dare bring our father into this." Sam said.

"Okay, fine. I'll cut to the chase." Patrick leaned forward. "We can strike any time we want. Dean, old boy, you think you can protect your baby brother here? Think again. He belongs to us."

Sam grabbed Patrick's collar and pulled him close. "I don't belong to you. Now why don't you and I walk outside so you can get out of Patrick's body and we can take care of him?"

He laughed. "You want me out of his body? Sure. But not just yet."

Dean felt Kristine shaking next to him and he put his hand on her leg under the table.

"I have a few things to do before I vacate the body." Patrick continued. "Hey, but I can be nice and leave it somewhere for you. I'll give you a call to let you know where."

He slipped out of the booth, but Sam was right on his heels as he walked out of the diner. Dean was right behind them.

"There's nothing you can do to me." the demon smiled as he turned to face the brothers outside, his eyes black. "I'll give up the body when I'm done with it."

Before they could react, the demon jumped onto a motorcycle and roared away.

oooOOOooo

Bobby met them at the door when they arrived. He greeted the Winchesters warmly and did what he could to make Kristine feel at home. Sam had called him earlier and let him know what was going on so he went through extra precautions to make sure the house was safe.

"Do you have any idea how to find this thing?" Bobby asked as they sat around the table later. He glanced at Kristine; she was staring into the cup of steaming coffee that her hands were wrapped around.

"I get the feeling it will find us." Dean said. He glanced at Kristine, too. "The plan had to change when it found us at the diner."

"You said the demon told you it had some things to do before it left the body." Bobby said thoughtfully. "Any idea what?"

No one answered.

"What about Sam's vision?" Kristine asked quietly. All eyes turned to her and she looked up, a little uncomfortably.

"What about it?" Dean asked. "We changed the outcome."

"Did you?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe I need to go back there. Maybe what it has to finish is – is me."

"That isn't going to happen." Dean said. "Like I said, we changed the outcome."

"Wait, Kristine might be right." Sam said thoughtfully.

"Come again?" Dean asked.

"We were always at the place where my visions happened before. We changed the endings, but we were always there. Maybe Kristine is right that we have to go back there to really change what happens."

"I –" Dean stopped. He didn't have an argument.

"It makes sense, Dean." Sam said.

"Maybe, but I'm not so sure I want Kristine to go back there until we get rid of that demon."

"And what makes you think you get to make that call?" Kristine asked. Sam and Bobby exchanged a look.

"Kristine –"

"I appreciate your concern, but I can't just sit on the sidelines now. I'm a part of this."

Dean rubbed his face.

"I'm not saying I necessarily need a front row seat, but I have to be in the theater."

"I think we should hang out here for a day or two and make a plan." Kristine was about to protest, but Dean continued. "You're still in a lot of pain; don't deny it."

Kristine couldn't deny that she still felt bad and was dependant on the pain killers. She'd found something stronger in the first aid kit after the nightmare, but didn't mention taking it to either of the brothers.

oooOOOooo

"How are you doing?" Bobby asked Kristine the next day when he found her in the living room.

She turned away from the window where she'd been watching Dean working on the Impala. "I'm okay."

"You're lookin' a little antsy."

"I guess I am. I can't help but wonder what the demon is making Patrick do – if he's aware of what's going on, he's probably really suffering. Especially if he knows what happened to me." she looked at him. "You know a lot about demon possession, don't you?"

"Sometimes it's better not to know." he said quietly.

"Yeah, maybe so." she paced for a moment then lowered herself onto the couch. She was beginning to think she might actually end up having to see a doctor for her back. "Patrick is my only remaining family. The only one I really know, anyway. I have a couple of aunts and uncles, cousins here and there, but I don't know them. I know I've lost Patrick already, but I don't want him to suffer and I think he is."

"You talk to Dean about this?"

Kristine laughed. "You're kidding, right? Talk to Dean? That's not all that easy under normal circumstances and it's almost impossible right now."

"What about Sam?"

"I'm asking you, Bobby."

Bobby sighed to himself. In their own way, each of the Winchester boys was like their father. In some ways that was good, but in other ways, far from it. Bobby knew even less about Dean and Kristine's relationship than Sam did and he'd been a bachelor for a long time, but he knew the look he saw pass between them earlier and he knew what that look meant.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked gently.

Kristine nodded and Bobby sat on the coffee table across from her. "Patrick is still in his body, along with the demon. But he's not awake all the time, so he's only aware of some of what the demon is doing."

She nodded again.

"What makes you think he's not going to survive this?" Bobby asked.

Kristine leaned forward, trying to get comfortable. "Patrick should be in a wheelchair. He has health issues that aren't being treated like they should be. And I guess I'm just preparing myself."

"That can be a good strategy."

"Bobby." Sam said as he walked into the room. "Uh, Dean needs some help with the Impala."

The older man nodded. He patted Kristine on the knee before joining Dean outside.

"You okay?" Sam asked as he took the spot Bobby vacated.

Kristine nodded.

Sam hesitated, then put his arm around her shoulders. When he felt her relax a little, he pulled her closer. "Are you okay?"

He felt her shake her head and he held her more securely.

oooOOOooo

After dinner, Dean went back outside to finish the work he'd started on the Impala. There was nothing in particular wrong with it, but Bobby's junk yard had the tools and the facilities to make working on the car easier. He was just finishing up when Sam joined him.

"Everything okay with the car?"

"She's purring like a kitten again."

"I thought she was purring like a kitten before."

"Well, now it's a healthier purr. Get off my back." Dean feigned irritation. "It's late. If we're leaving in the morning, we should get to sleep."

"I want to talk to you first."

"What's up?" Dean tossed a dirty rag onto a pile of other dirty rags.

"Kristine."

Dean looked at him.

"She's not doing well and you ignoring her isn't helping."

"I'm not ignoring her." Dean paused. "What do you mean she isn't doing well?"

"She talked to Bobby about demon possession and he told her that Patrick is aware of some of what's going on."

"He told her what?"

"Well, basically, he told her the truth. She asked him and –" Sam shrugged. "She cried herself to sleep. I just got her to bed."

Dean turned away.

"And –" Sam hesitated. "She's into the Vicadin."

"What!?" Dean looked at Sam. "Did she tell you that?"

"No. But I was checking the first aid kit to see if we needed to stock up on anything and –" Sam slipped his hands into his pants pockets and shrugged.

"It's probably her back. Once we get her home, she can see a doctor."

Sam nodded. He started to turn away, then paused and looked at Dean. "I know you have a lot on your shoulders, but she needs you. And I think maybe you need her, too."

Dean leaned against his car and watched Sam walk to the house. He crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath. Kristine was the only person outside of him and Sam who knew about John's secret. She was the only person he could really talk to about how much pressure he felt; that wasn't something he could tell Sam, although he was sure his brother knew. But Kristine was dealing with her own pain right now and Dean didn't see how she could have anything left she could use to help him with.

He looked at the window of the room he and Sam were sharing. He could see Sam moving behind the thin curtain and a few minutes later the light went out. Dean pushed himself off the car and headed inside. He quietly opened Kristine's door and saw her sleeping, covered with just a thin sheet. She was still wearing the clothes she'd been in all day and he assumed Sam had carried her to bed. He rubbed his face before forcing himself to walk inside the room and close the door. He stood quietly at the foot of the bed, watching her.

"Kristine?" he sat on the edge of the bed and caressed her cheek. Her eyes opened slowly and it took her a moment to focus on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Dean shook his head and climbed into bed next to her.

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

**The Hunt**

**Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1

**A/N: **Well, here's a happy little chapter. Because the story has been so light-hearted and happy up to this point… I appreciate the reviews and private messages. I love to know what you guys think of how things are going.

oooOOOooo

Sam didn't say anything to Dean about not sleeping in their room the previous night. Kristine insisted on sitting in the car's back seat saying she would be more comfortable being able to stretch out, but Sam suspected it was something else entirely. Kristine was a trained therapist and very cognizant of the relationship between the brothers. He knew she would never try to come between them and he was sure she would intentionally do anything she could to stay in the background. Sam appreciated her actions, but he didn't feel threatened by her. In fact, he wished Dean would let himself get closer even though he understood why he didn't.

Sam wondered how he would feel if Dean suddenly announced he was leaving the hunt to stay with Kristine. He didn't see his brother actually doing that, but if it happened, he hoped he would be happy for Dean. A part of him knew that wouldn't be the case; at least not entirely. No one deserved happiness like Dean did. He'd given up his entire life for the hunt and for their father's revenge. He'd done everything John ever asked of him and sacrificed his own needs and desires for Sam. Dean was tired of the lifestyle and would have given up hunting a few months ago if Sam hadn't told him he was going to face whatever was coming for him head on. So once again, Dean gave up what he wanted for Sam.

The younger man glanced at his brother. This was the most important person in his life and, of course, Sam wanted him to be happy. Right now, though, Sam needed him more than he ever had. He was terrified of what he might become and suspected that without Dean's influence it would actually happen. Some day he would be able to let Dean go, but not now; not until Sam knew that he wouldn't succumb to evil and become what he had fought his entire life.

Dean looked over at Sam when he saw the younger man shudder and wondered what he'd been thinking about. He sat up straighter in the seat and reached for the radio volume knob to turn it up a little. He didn't think about it, but that was exactly what Dean did when he didn't want to talk. The older brother caught his eye and Kristine saw something pass between them. She was always fascinated by the amount of non-verbal communication between the brothers.

oooOOOooo

The drive back to North Carolina was uneventful, other than Kristine's dips into the Vicodin bottle, and the three of them were nervous when they pulled up to Kristine's cottage. Dean took the keys from her to open the door and immediately tried to keep her from going in, but his insistence only fueled her.

"What the –" the front room of the cottage had been ransacked.

The brothers each held a gun as they searched the house. None of the rooms were left untouched and Kristine got angrier the more she saw. It didn't look like a random break in and each was convinced it was the work of the demon; something else to keep them off balance.

"Tell us again about the hunters that were here." Sam said as Dean parked in front of the main house a few minutes after they left the cottage.

"There were four of them and they'd been in a huge fight with a nasty poltergeist outside Atlanta. They had broken bones and were pretty messed up; they lost a good friend. I hated having to leave them, but I didn't have a choice. I told them about a place in Illinois and gave them time to pack up. Before I headed out I asked Alicia to schedule a cleaning crew to come in and take care of the place."

"Do you have a staff?"

"Sort of. People who come in to do things, but no one who stays here." she stood at the car and looked toward the house. "The demon must have come here and chased the hunters out –"

"Don't think about that." Dean said. "You want to wait out here while we go inside?"

"No." she sounded almost offended and set off toward the front door. The brothers exchanged a look and followed her.

They found nothing out of place in the main house and when Kristine called Alicia, she found out the cleaning crew had been there the day before. Alicia also told her that they hadn't reported anything out of the ordinary other than the kitchen.

"So your house probably _was_ a personal attack." Dean said.

"That makes me feel so much better." Kristine grumbled.

Dean glanced at her. "We have work to do. Kristine, why don't you stay here or maybe go to the inn –"

"The inn?" she repeated with raised eyebrows. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Kristine –"

Sam backed out of the room making a comment about waiting outside that he was pretty sure neither of them heard.

"Don't _Kristine_ me."

Dean looked at her. "Do you have to be so stubborn?"

Kristine wanted to fight, but she saw the fear in his eyes and relented.

"I told you at Bobby's that I was a part of this and wasn't going to back down." she said gently.

"I know, but –" he stopped when Kristine sat down suddenly. "What's wrong?"

She didn't answer, but Kristine was clearly in pain.

"Is it your back?"

She didn't answer, cradling one of her arms.

"Kristine –" Dean sat next to her and gently pulled her arm toward him, pulling the long sleeve out of the way. The wound was clearly infected. "This doesn't look good."

"It doesn't feel all that good either." she said quietly. "And to answer your other question, my back hurts, too."

"You're going to the hospital."

His concern increased when she didn't resist. Sam protested when Dean wanted him to stay and finish their preparations while he took Kristine to the hospital in Asheville, but he relented when it was clear Dean's mind was made up.

oooOOOooo

Two hours later Kristine was admitted to the hospital, being administered intravenous antibiotics and an MRI scheduled for her back. The doctors seemed to accept her explanation that she'd been mugged while on a business trip in Atlanta. Dean didn't want to leave her alone, but after being settled in a room, Kristine insisted. She had wanted to be a part of the battle, but knew it would be impossible for at least several days and she didn't want Patrick to suffer any more than he already had.

Dean was a mile away from the cottage when he decided to call Sam. They hadn't eaten regularly in days and he realized he was hungry.

"Hey." Sam answered the phone quickly.

"Everything okay?" Dean didn't like his tone.

"Yeah; I've just been worried."

"Sorry. Kristine will probably be in the hospital tomorrow for a couple of days; longer if there's a problem with the MRI. I want to take care of this tonight, but right now I'm starving. Are you interested in food?"

"Yeah. I'll start walking toward the diner –"

"No!" Dean said quickly. "I don't want you out there alone. I'll pick you up in a couple of minutes."

oooOOOooo

"You really think this is gonna work?" Sam asked Dean later.

"I hope so, but I don't know." Dean sounded even more skeptical than his words implied.

Before they left Bobby's, he showed them how to summon a specific demon and gave them ideas of how to contain it once it arrived. Bobby had much of the same knowledge as their father and was willing to share it with them. John obviously didn't leave them completely unprepared for how to handle a hunt, but there were a lot of things he left out of their education. Bobby also had a lot of information about their father they didn't, but both left it at innocent reminiscing.

"You worried about Kristine?" Sam asked as he mixed another batch of herbs together.

Dean didn't say anything as he continued his work. Sam glanced at him. "You know, we're almost done here. You could go back to the hospital –"

"Stop it, Sam."

"What?"

"Stop trying to make me and Kristine into a couple. It can't happen."

"That isn't what I'm doing." Sam lied. "You two have a connection and –"

"Yeah, but what good does that do? What does that get us, huh?" Dean sounded more sad than angry.

"You tried to push me at Sarah. What's the difference between that and this?"

"The difference is that was you. You know how to have a relationship. " he hesitated seeing the flash of pain in Sam's eyes. "I just know how to disappoint her by leaving all the time."

"If that was true, she wouldn't keep in touch with you. She wouldn't have left the trail for you to follow when she got into trouble –" Sam stopped talking and looked at his brother. "You love her, man, I know you do."

"What the hell do I know about love?"

"More than you think." Sam said quietly.

Dean glanced at him. "I don't want to have this conversation. We have work to do."

oooOOOooo

"Are we set?" Dean asked later.

"Yeah. You sure you're ready to do this?"

Dean nodded.

They had cleared almost everything out of the den and drawn protection symbols on walls in each of the other rooms. They stood on either side of a symbol that Sam had drawn on the wood floor that would call the demon when other things were put in place.

"So Bobby said this would compel the demon to come here; it wouldn't be able to resist." Sam said.

Dean nodded.

"And then it acts like a Devil's Trap because it won't let it out until we let it out or it's exorcised."

"Let's get on with it." Dean said. Sam looked at him.

"We agree we'll exorcise it and try to save Patrick?"

"Yeah." Dean answered as if he hadn't really heard the question.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Come on, man. Your head needs to be in the game here."

"I'm in the game."

"I'm not so sure."

Dean looked at him. "Let's do this and get it over with."

"See, that's the problem right there."

"Sam –"

"We can't just do this and get it over with. We're messing with a demon here, Dean."

"I know that!" Dean growled. "A demon that is possessing Patrick and who made him beat the hell out of Kristine. I know what we're up against."

Sam watched as Dean struggled with his feelings. The expression on his face scared Sam a little bit, but sadly, there was nothing unusual about that these days. He sighed quietly as Dean regained control of himself and put the walls back up.

"Ready?" Dean asked, no hint of weakness in his voice.

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

oooOOOooo

After making sure everything was in place, Sam started to read the Latin invocation that Bobby supplied. Dean watched, weapons ready, in case things didn't go as they expected. The last thing he wanted was to cause Patrick more pain, but he tried to keep his mind on the demon and not on the body it possessed.

Before Sam finished reading the words, the lights began to flash and static could be heard coming from a radio in another part of the house. The front door slammed open a few minutes later and Patrick walked in, the demon fighting each movement.

"What the hell are you doing?" it demanded, compelled to stand in the middle of the symbol drawn onto the floor.

Once inside, Dean moved a lit candle so that the circle was complete.

"What is this?" the demon roared.

"This is the end of the line. You're done tormenting Kristine." Dean snarled.

It smiled. "You can't get rid of all of us. Besides, it's not Kristine we intend to torment."

"Keep going, Sam." Dean said, his voice low.

Glancing at his brother, Sam began to read the exorcism passage. The demon laughed.

"It doesn't matter what you do to me." it said, with somewhat less bravado than only a moment before. "We'll just keep coming."

Dean only glared at it.

A moment later, the demon fell to the floor. As Sam continued to read aloud, Patrick's body began to shake and, clearly in pain, the demon yelled obscenities at the brothers. It seemed to take hours, but when Sam finished the passage, the demon sprang from Patrick's body in the tell-tale black smoke that they knew was being pulled back into Hell.

There was no time to relax or regroup. Patrick's broken body lie on the floor, and with him completely back in control, the pain was excruciating. The demon not only forced the body to walk when it couldn't, it was abused in other ways. Without the demon's presence, the cuts and bruises showed.

Dean rushed forward to comfort his friend while Sam made sure the candles were safely extinguished. He called for an ambulance, then quickly set about getting rid of the ritual paraphernalia.

"Patrick –"

He coughed. "It's over?"

"Yeah, man, it's over." Dean whispered.

"Kristine?"

"She's safe. She's okay." Dean looked toward Sam, both of them powerless to help Patrick.

"Tell her – " he struggled to speak. "Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her – I love her."

"Don't talk, okay? There's an ambulance coming."

"Promise me." he whispered, the little strength he had almost spent already.

"I promise." Dean said in a low voice.

"Demon –" Patrick was overtaken by another fit of coughing. An ambulance siren could be heard in the distance, but the brothers knew it would arrive too late.

"What about the demon?" Sam asked gently.

"There are more." he said. "They want you."

"I know." he said sadly.

"Hurt Dean." Patrick said, with difficulty.

Sam glanced at his brother. "What do you mean?"

"Want him – out of the way."

"Yeah." Sam sighed. "That's what we thought."

"Careful."

"Patrick –" Dean leaned closer to him.

Patrick reached for Dean's jacket collar. "Careful."

"Don't worry." he grasped his friend's hand. "I'm sorry, man."

"Burn me."

Dean closed his eyes for a moment. He nodded.

"Promise."

"We promise." Sam said when his brother didn't speak.

The ambulance parked outside of the cottage. Sam squeezed Patrick's shoulder and went to guide the paramedics inside.

"Kristine – alone now." Dean could barely hear him.

"Don't worry about Kristine. She's tough. And she has people looking out for her."

"You?" he sounded hopeful.

Before Dean could answer, Patrick's body suffered a violent spasm. Just as the paramedics rushed in, his hand went limp in Dean's.

"Patrick?" Dean whispered, knowing there would be no answer. He gently put Patrick's hand on his chest, then allowed Sam to move him out of the paramedics' way. Dean shook his head in answer to Sam's questioning look and walked away.

oooOOOooo

After dealing with the paramedics and watching the ambulance drive away, Sam found Dean in Kristine's back yard. He was sitting on the bottom step leading to the deck and staring into the darkness. Sam sat down next to him, but said nothing.

"Everything handled?" Dean asked eventually.

"Yeah. The paramedics were suspicious, but they were okay after Joe got here."

Joe Rawlings was the sheriff and another friend of the Ryan family. He knew more about the supernatural than most of the people in Kristine's life, but made it his business to stay as far away from it as possible.

Dean only nodded. He knew he should have helped Sam deal with the paramedics, but he just couldn't make himself do it. After Patrick died, all he could manage to do was walk outside and stare at nothing. Sam understood and wasn't angry with him. His brother didn't let a lot of people get close, but Patrick was one of the few and Sam knew his death hit would affect Dean.

"They're taking Patrick to the morgue. Joe will deal with the paperwork tomorrow and – the body – will be released to the funeral home."

"We have to burn the body." Dean said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Joe will fix it so that we get the body." Sam glanced at him. "Or we could have the funeral home send it to the crematorium."

"It's our responsibility."

Sam nodded.

Dean leaned forward and rested his head in his hands. "I'm tired, Sam."

Sam knew Dean didn't just mean because they'd gotten very little sleep over the last few days. He was tired of the lifestyle; tired of losing people that meant something to him. Sam wished there was more he could do for his brother than take him to the estate and put him to bed. He stood up and held out a hand. "Come on, man. Let's go find a couple of beds."

Dean looked at him for a moment, his eyes showing the fear and despair he was feeling, before accepting the help up. They walked around the house to the car, their shoulders almost touching. Sam drove to the estate and parked near the back door. They carried their duffle bags inside and chose a room at random. Most of the six bedrooms had two double beds in them and, even though they each could have had a room of their own, they were used to being together. Besides, Dean needed to be close to Sam. He needed to feel his presence and know that there was at least one person in the world he cared about who was still alive.

When Sam came back from the bathroom, Dean was stretched out on top of the covers of the bed closest to the door. Ever since he could remember, Dean had slept near the door of whatever room they were in. If anything was going to attack in the night, it was going to have to go through him to get to his brother. Sam stood just inside the bedroom, watching Dean, not quite sure if he was awake.

He quietly moved forward and slipped Dean's shoes from his feet. If he was awake, he gave no indication. Sam then managed to get Dean out of his jacket and tossed it over a chair in the corner. He pulled the comforter from his bed and covered Dean, then sat down across from him. Eventually he crawled under the sheets of his own bed and fell asleep.

oooOOOooo

"Hey." Sam said as he walked into the kitchen in the morning. He'd only gotten four hours of sleep and it looked like Dean got a lot less. He was sitting at the kitchen table, his hands wrapped around a cup of coffee.

"Hey." Dean didn't look up.

Sam poured a cup of coffee and sat across from him. "You should still be asleep."

"You too."

Sam nodded and smiled.

"I want to get to the hospital; talk to Kristine." Dean said. "Visiting hours don't start for another hour, not that I normally care about the rules, but the MRI is scheduled for this morning. I want to be in her room when they bring her back."

"I'll go with you." Sam said, a little surprised when Dean didn't resist. "I'll take a quick shower."

"Sam?"

He stopped in the doorway.

"Thanks. For yesterday; for last night." Dean looked at him, feeling a little uncomfortable.

There were a lot of things Sam could say, but he kept it simple. "You're welcome."

_TBC_


	5. Chapter 5

**The Hunt**

**Chapter 5**

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1

**A/N: **I hope you like the way this has all turned out. Either way, I'd love to know your thoughts. Thanks to everyone who has read up to now; I appreciate it!

oooOOOooo

Sam and Dean sat quietly in Kristine's hospital room, waiting for her to be brought back from the MRI. There wasn't a whole lot to say; nothing that Dean wanted to talk about anyway. He knew, if given the chance, Sam would want to talk about his feelings for Kristine, but that was one of the last things Dean wanted to think about. Sam would also want him to talk about Patrick, but no amount of talking would bring him back.

The exorcism had to be performed; they couldn't let a demon run rampant in the world. And Patrick was aware of at least some of what his body was being made to do and allowing him to continue to suffer was unacceptable. Hurting anyone would have been like torture to Patrick, but what his body was made to do to Kristine – he loved her like a sister and would have killed himself before hurting her if he could.

Dean would eventually talk about his feelings. He would go through it all in his head and endure all sorts of pain until he felt comfortable enough with it to talk to Sam. The younger brother knew he could push, and sometimes that worked, but most of the time it was best to let Dean come to him on his own. In the meantime, he would stay close and take care of as many of the details as he could.

Just over an hour after the brothers arrived, Kristine was brought back to her room. She saw the look on Dean's face and knew what had happened. The orderly got her settled in bed and was quickly followed by a nurse who reattached the IV and made a few notes in her chart while making small talk. Once they were alone, Sam hesitated, waiting for Dean to make a move. When he didn't, Sam sat on the edge of the bed and laid a hand on hers.

"It's over." Kristine said; it wasn't a question.

Sam nodded.

"He didn't suffer?"

"No." Sam whispered.

"Any problems?"

"Joe took care of everything."

Kristine glanced at Dean. He was leaning against the wall, looking at her sadly.

"I'm sorry. The demon – this was my fault." Sam said.

"No, it wasn't." Kristine said quickly. "I don't blame you and neither would Patrick. You – and Dean - are as much victims as any of us."

"How do you feel?" Sam asked, wanting to change the subject. "The antibiotics kicking in?"

"Yeah, I'm already feeling better. If the MRI is clear, I'll be able to leave this afternoon."

"Good." Sam looked at his brother, then back to Kristine. "I need to get in touch with Bobby and Ellen. I'll be back later, okay?"

She nodded. Sam squeezed her hand, gave Dean a pointed look and walked out of the room. Kristine laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. Dean pushed himself off the wall and sat in the spot Sam vacated as a tear rolled down Kristine's cheek. He didn't feel remotely capable of handling this situation, but like most things in his life, he had no choice.

"Tell me what happened." Kristine said after a moment.

"The details aren't important."

She looked at him. "They are to me."

Dean spent the next few minutes telling her about the previous night, though he did gloss over some of it. "He wanted me to tell you that he – he loved you."

She smiled sadly as new tears welled in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kristine. There wasn't any way to save him –"

"I know that. You – you saved him from any more pain, though. Thank you for that."

Dean only nodded. He didn't feel like there was anything to thank him for; someone was dead.

"You know I don't normally go in for the weak girly thing, but I could really use a hug." she said quietly.

Dean moved to sit next to her and pulled her gently into his arms. She cried quietly, resting her head against him, until she'd fallen asleep.

oooOOOooo

After making the phone calls, Sam went back to Kristine's room and found her asleep in Dean's arms. He left them alone to start the cleanup on the cottage. News of Patrick's death spread through town quickly and friends came by looking for Kristine. Most stayed to help with the cottage and everyone seemed to believe the story that Patrick had come in and surprised burglars who ended up killing him.

The MRI showed no serious damage to Kristine's back and with the infection clearing up well, she was released from the hospital late that afternoon with medication and strict instructions from the doctor.

"The cottage isn't ready for you to stay in." Sam said as he drove them out of Asheville.

"You didn't have to spend your day working in the cottage." Kristine said. "But thank you."

"It wasn't just me. You have a lot of friends in town."

"I guess I do." she said quietly. "I can stay at the estate, but I'd like to see the cottage."

"How about tomorrow?" Dean suggested.

"I need to get some stuff –"

"Alicia packed all the clothes she could find." Sam said.

"Okay, then. Tomorrow."

Truth be told, Kristine was exhausted physically and emotionally and didn't really want to see the cottage right now anyway. What she wanted to do was lie in bed and go to sleep for a very long time, but what she would do was entirely different. Like Dean, she buried her feelings deep inside. As a therapist, she knew that wasn't the best way to deal with emotional turmoil, but she was a much better counselor than she was a patient.

"Are you guys sticking around until tomorrow?" Kristine asked as they walked into the estate house later.

The brothers exchanged a look.

"We're only welcome until tomorrow?" Dean smiled.

"You're always welcome here." Kristine looked into his eyes. "But you don't normally stick around too long once a job is done –"

"This wasn't just a job." Dean said as they walked into the den. Sam veered off toward the kitchen to give them time to talk.

Kristine slowly sat down on the couch. "I'm glad to hear that."

Dean sat next to her. "You feeling okay?"

"I'm getting there."

"You should have told me how bad it was."

Kristine said nothing and Dean didn't press the issue.

"So is it okay if we stick around for a while?"

"Of course it is." Kristine said. "I'd like it if you would."

oooOOOooo

A couple of days later, Sam and Dean posed as employees of a funeral home to get Patrick's body. The sheriff arranged for the proper paperwork and Kristine dealt with the owner of the real funeral home. Despite the do-it-yourself cremation, Kristine wanted a service for Patrick. She ended paying a lot more than the standard fee to guarantee the owner's silence.

She stood between the brothers late the night after they secured the body. Her back still hurt more than she'd like, but she was faithfully following the doctor's instructions, despite having spent a good part of the day going through things in Patrick's house after taking a tour of her own. Dean was slowly becoming more comfortable giving her the support she needed, though it still required a little prompting from Sam.

With Kristine's permission, Dean lit the fire that would consume Patrick's body. He backed up to stand next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him and reached for Sam's hand. She knew this was coming very soon after their father's death and she suspected that's where their thoughts would go.

They stood in the dark, in a remote spot on the estate, watching Patrick's body burn. Once it was done, they finished the ritual and went back to the house in silence. As if by some unspoken agreement, they ended up in the kitchen and before sitting with the brothers at the table, Kristine got three bottles of beer from the refrigerator. She and Sam talked about nothing in particular for a while as Dean just stared at the table. He could shut down faster than anyone Kristine had ever encountered; and that included patients at the clinic in Asheville where she worked as well as the hunters at the safe house.

It was almost one in the morning before they made their way upstairs to bed. Dean's things were still in the room he and Sam had shared their first night at the estate, but he was sleeping with Kristine. Sam wouldn't even let himself admit that he was a little jealous and missed waking up to find his brother in the next bed. He knew it was ridiculous, and he honestly wanted Dean to be happy, but he couldn't shake the feeling.

Most of his dreams were premonitions, but now and then he had a simple nightmare. Waking up after dreaming of John's death and the night he and Dean burned the body, Sam felt very alone in the empty room. It was just after 5:00 so he went to the kitchen and started the coffee. He was surprised when Kristine joined him a few minutes later.

"You okay?" she asked, pouring coffee and sitting across from him at the table.

"I had a dream about my dad." he saw the look of alarm on her face. "Just a regular dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Sam shook his head.

"I know I've said this over the phone, but, well, I'm sorry about your father. He was really good to me."

"He liked you." Sam smiled. "He liked the way you didn't take crap from Dean."

Kristine laughed lightly.

"It's been hard on Dean. He misses Dad, but before he died, Dad told him something about me. He lived with that for months –" Sam looked at her. "He told you, didn't he?"

"Sam –"

"Of course he did." Sam laughed to himself. "That figures."

"Don't be angry. You know how Dean followed John's orders; John didn't want you to know."

"Of course he didn't. But it was about _me_."

She didn't know what to say.

"It's okay." Sam said, even though he didn't think it really was. He was angry with Dean for telling Kristine about the secret, but part of him understood why he did it.

"There was a lot unsaid between you and your dad." she said after a few minutes of silence.

"He should have told me about this. I could have been fighting it longer –"

"Sam, you know how your dad was. He thought he could protect everyone. He didn't keep it from you to hurt you."

"I know." Sam said quietly. Then, after a moment, he added. "I don't want Dean to have to kill me. That would destroy him."

Kristine agreed, but said nothing.

Sam rubbed his face. "I don't want to talk about this. We've got a long day ahead of us with the service and – and I'm supposed to be helping you."

"You are." Kristine assured him.

"So, Dean's still sleeping?"

"No. He left a while ago; said he was going to take a drive."

He nodded, not entirely surprised.

"Hey, Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Does it bother you? Dean and me?"

Sam wanted to lie and say he was happy, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't want to hurt Kristine, but if he could be honest with her when he was at rock bottom, he could be honest with her now.

"A little bit." he said quietly. "But the bottom line is if Dean's happy, then I'm happy."

"Is Dean happy?"

"He cares about you."

"I know he does. And I care about him. But – happy?" she shook her head. "You know I'd never do anything to come between you, right?"

Sam nodded. He did believe that. But he also knew that Dean would never allow it.

"Good." she said and they slipped into a comfortable silence.

oooOOOooo

Dean stayed gone longer than he meant to, but he felt in control behind the wheel of his car and he needed to feel in control. He knew Kristine didn't blame him for Patrick's death, but the demon went after him and Kristine to get to Dean and he knew that the same kind of thing would keep happening. The yellow-eyed demon wanted Sam and it had to go through Dean to get him.

All the time Dean was growing up and even when he started hunting with his father, he never felt like this. He never felt the kind of fear that was always with him now – he wasn't afraid of falling victim to the yellow-eyed demon, but of failing to protect Sam. If he messed up, Sam would be lost t him forever.

And he didn't understand what he felt for Kristine. When he was with her, even though he still felt out of control and like things were crashing down on him, there was an underlying calm. In between hunting gigs, when he stayed with her before, he worked as a bartender in the club her family owned. It was a country place with a lot of regulars, and he'd loved it. He remembered being happy there and he wondered if he could ever really have a life like the one he pretended was his for a while.

It couldn't happen now. Not with the yellow-eyed demon out there and not with the threat of Sam turning evil over their heads. They had to destroy the threat before he could even think about anything else.

Dean parked the car on at the end of a dirt road that had an incredible view of the mountains around them. Kristine had shown him this spot and no matter how many times he saw it, he was always mesmerized by it. He sat on the hood of the car, taking in everything he could and trying to memorize every detail. He had to protect Sam; he had to find a way for them both to be safe. If he did, maybe he could come back here for good. Until then, all he had was what he could remember.

He wasn't surprised when his cell phone rang a little later. He cleared his throat while reaching into his pocket. He knew it was Sam.

"You okay, man?" Sam asked when Dean answered.

"Yeah."

Sam didn't think he sounded okay. "Where are you? The service starts in a couple of hours."

"I'll be there. I'm not that far away."

"Dean –"

"I'm okay, Sam. I'll be there soon."

oooOOOooo

As he promised, Dean was back in plenty of time to get ready for the service. It was being held at the estate and Kristine spent the morning helping Alicia deal with the caterers and other staff they'd hired. Normally she shied away from what was expected of a person in her financial position; the kind of affair her mother always hosted. But she decided Patrick deserved the glitz and knew that he would have laughed at it if he'd been able to. He had been popular in the town and nearly everyone was there. He also had a lot of friends in Asheville, where he led a support group for the disabled, and many of them were at the service as well. It was a long, exhausting day.

For his part, although extremely uncomfortable, Dean was by Kristine's side almost the entire time. He knew many of the townspeople, but didn't like having to deal with the other society types that were there. Kristine was able to float seamlessly in both of the worlds, but that only came with years of practice.

After everyone was gone, the brothers changed out of their suits and found Kristine on the back deck wearing worn jeans and an oversized sweater. No one felt like talking and after Kristine finished the beer she was drinking, she excused herself and went to bed, leaving each one with a kiss on the cheek.

"You know I'm going to ask you where you went this morning." Sam said once they were alone.

"Yeah, I figured."

"So?"

"I just went for a drive. To think."

"And?"

"And what? I thought."

"What about?"

"A lot of things."

"You okay?"

Dean only nodded.

Sam waited a few moments. "Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to stay?"

Dean looked at him. "What?"

"With Kristine? Do you want to stay here with her?"

"If things were different, then yeah, maybe. But things are what they are."

"Because of me."

"Sam –"

"You're giving her up because of the responsibility that Dad forced on you – to look out for me."

Dean looked at him. "Who said I'm giving anything up? Besides, I have a job to do. I've spent almost my entire life looking for that son of a bitch demon and I'm not going to give up until it's gone. So don't flatter yourself, Sammy."

Sam heard his words and knew Dean believed them, but he also knew his brother's main reason for not pursuing a relationship with Kristine was his duty to Sam. That made him both happy and sad.

"You know, if you want to stay, for a while, I'd be okay with that. Or if you want to come back more often –"

"Let it go, Sam."

"Dean –"

His brother looked at him with nothing but affection on his face. "Let it go."

oooOOOooo

Nearly a month later, the brothers were still in town, but when Ellen called them with some news related to the yellow-eyed demon, they were compelled to investigate it.

"I'd gotten used to you being here." Kristine said as she sat next to Dean on the hood of the Impala, overlooking his favorite view. He and Sam were leaving in a few hours.

"Come with us."

She looked at him. "What?"

"You heard me."

"It wouldn't work." she said gently. "And you know it."

"I talked to Sam about it–"

"And he agreed because he'd do anything for you."

Dean's expression darkened.

"This is a big car, Dean, but it isn't big enough for three."

"I can't not know that you're okay." Dean said sadly.

"Then we'll have to be better about staying in touch."

"You'll be careful?"

"Yeah. You?"

Dean smiled. "Always."

Kristine could help but laugh. "Right."

Dean pulled her closer.

oooOOOooo

"You're both welcome here any time." Kristine said as she walked to the car between the brothers. "And I expect to see you again soon."

"Thanks for everything." Sam said.

She looked at him. "I should be the one thanking you."

Sam kissed her cheek when they got to the car. "Take care of yourself."

"You too." she glanced at Dean. "And him."

"Don't worry about that."

She walked to the driver's side of the car.

"I'll call you tonight." Dean said.

She nodded and reached out to touch his cheek. "Be careful."

"I will. You won't change your mind?"

"I can't go any more than you can stay."

He knew she was right. He opened the car door and Kristine stepped aside.

"Dean?"

He looked at her.

"That second number on the cell phone I left for you – do you have it?"

"Yeah, I programmed it into my phone. Why?"

"Keep it with you; make sure Sam has it, too. It's my lawyer's number."

"Jeremy?"

"No. His name is Brian and he handles my – less than legitimate issues. He knows about the supernatural and helps hunters. If you ever need his services –"

Dean nodded. "Thanks."

She watched as he got into the car, then she leaned into the open window. Sam pretended not to be paying attention as they kissed gently.

"I adore you, Dean Winchester."

He grinned. "What's not to adore?"

Kristine stood up when he started the engine. "I love you, Kristine."

She looked at him, shocked. He smiled at her and slowly drove away.

"That was nice, man." Sam smiled after Dean pulled onto the road.

"Shut up."

"I knew you loved her."

"Drop it."

Sam grinned as Dean glanced at him.

"I mean it, Sam."

"Consider it dropped." he said, holding up his hands.

"You'd better be worth it." Dean grumbled, his tone light.

Sam shifted to get comfortable as Dean turned up the radio.

_Fin_


End file.
